LTE Tested on 800Mhz in Germany

[RadioRaiders]

...we take a break from our regularly scheduled discussion on AT&T/Verizon/Sprint lawsuits to bring you some news about LTE being deployed on the 800Mhz band in Europe...which is interesting, because up to today I had only heard of LTE on 2.6Ghz in Europe.

Alcatel-Lucent completes the world’s first data call on a live LTE network in the 800 MHz “European Digital Dividend” spectrum band Paris, November 19, 2009 – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) successfully completed the worldwide first long term evolution (LTE) data call on the 800 MHz “European Digital Dividend” (EDD) spectrum band in a live network. The call was completed in October at Alcatel-Lucent’s 4G/LTE end-to-end solutions center in Stuttgart, Germany, involved transmitting high-definition video streaming over the air using Alcatel-Lucent’s commercial infrastructure platforms and prototype mobile devices. This first EDD call in a live LTE network marks a milestone for the introduction of LTE in the European market, and highlights Alcatel-Lucent’s readiness to provide mobile operators with a commercial solution as soon as regulatory decisions on EDD will be made. In Germany, for instance, a frequency auction including the 800 MHz spectrum band is expected to take place in the 2nd quarter of 2010. The 800 MHz spectrum is particularly well suited to bringing mobile broadband Internet services to rural areas. “This is a major breakthrough on our path to become the first vendor to offer a commercial solution for the ´Digital Dividend` spectrum”, said Ken Wirth, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s LTE/4G Solutions. “Our goal is to quickly and effectively support operators in their plans to further enhance the availability of broadband services all over the region, so we adapted our LTE solution to the 800 MHz frequency band quite early on and we are now working with customers on field trials.” Deploying LTE at 800MHz has a clear benefit for operators which can require fewer sites to cover rural areas, thus reducing overall environmental impact. 800 MHz spectrum LTE deployment could be an ideal complement to a 2.6GHz spectrum LTE deployment where smaller cells are required, in a dense urban environment for example. Alcatel-Lucent has live 2.6GHz LTE networks in Stuttgart and Vélizy in France and its 2.6GHz radio modules are CE marked, clearing the way for shipment of 2.6GHz LTE base stations in the European Economic Area (EEA). Background on the 4G/LTE solutions center in Stuttgart At its German headquarters located in Stuttgart, Alcatel-Lucent has installed an end-to-end solutions center for 4G/LTE. The solutions center consists of a complete LTE end-to-end network, including an “on the air” radio network in the Northern District of Stuttgart. For several months Alcatel-Lucent has been successfully testing 4G/LTE mobile services on the 2.6GHz spectrum band. In these tests, Alcatel-Lucent achieved very high data rates of up to 60 Mbit/s in the 10 MHz spectrum and very short round-trip delay, or “latency” times. The tests include innovative LTE-enabled applications which give mobile users a rich experience comparable to that available on fixed networks today.

...that is all......you may now resume the lawsuit discussions...

[Simon5282]

I guess this would be comparable to our 700auction we just reciently had. It will be intresting to see where this leads. I wonder how much money this brings in.

Would the EU do the auction or each respective country?

[RadioRaiders]

Originally Posted by Simon5282 I guess this would be comparable to our 700auction we just reciently had. It will be intresting to see where this leads. I wonder how much money this brings in. Would the EU do the auction or each respective country?

Each country needs to free up the freqs and do the auction themselves. Some have done it already, some plan for next year....

This is interesting, because this is the first time the same set of freqs will be used in the US and Europe. If the US decomissions 2G on 800Mhz and puts 4G then you could use the same device in US and EU...